Giving Compass' Take:

• Social Programs That Work has identified Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes as a near top tier program, meaning it is a promising program that needs another study. 

• How can philanthropy support the replication of studies for promising programs? How can a program like this one be effectively scaled, spread, and customized? 

• Learn how MDRC is maximizing impact through replication of its studies.

Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes (HELP PD) is a community-based lifestyle weight-loss program designed for overweight or obese adults with prediabetes. The goal is for participants to lose 5-7% of their body weight over six months – through increased physical activity (at least 180 minutes/week) and limited caloric intake (approximately 1,500 calories/day) – and to maintain the weight loss for an additional 18 months.

Two years after random assignment, a 7.5-pound reduction in body weight, a 4% decrease in fasting blood glucose (a test used to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes), and a promising but not yet definitive reduction in incidence of diabetes – from 8% to 3%.

The program’s cost is $961 per participant (in 2017 dollars).

A study limitation is that its sample was relatively small and geographically concentrated in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina area. Replication of these findings in a second trial, in another setting, would be desirable to confirm the initial results and establish that they generalize to other settings where the program might be implemented.

Read the full article about Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes at Social Programs That Work.